Just Bought A Cheap Electric PW

**Dsoto87** · 08-18-2009, 02:31 PM

Well to make a short story long, I just lost my job so Ive been thinking of taking this detailing thing a bit more seriously to get a bit of extra income coming my way.

Right now Ive pretty much just done family and friends (or friends of friends) cars. 95% of the time I use ONR. Love that stuff. I can clean a car just as well as someone doing it with a hose, the only problem is my method takes a bit longer to do this way. A 2 gallon sprayer is my best friend (or was). It allowed me to use degreaser, brake cleaners, etc just like a normal wash, but like I said, it just took longer.

Anyways, I plan on targeting the wash and wax sector. Id be fine with my method but I feel profit would be cut since I would be taking slightly longer. Thats why I decided to get a PW. It had to meet a few criteria: Small and compact (my trunk has limited space); electric (dont want to deal with upkeep just yet); and cheap (just incase this doesnt work out for me).

I did a lot of research on here and the web in general and the consensus is that electric PWs are crap. Theres a ton of negative comments, but than you gotta remember, people are more likely to post up comments when they have a bad experience than when their experience is a good one. I shopped around and even though theres a ton of cheap places to buy it online a felt a brick and mortar establishment was better since I could return it if it didnt work on startup. Whereas, if I buy online and it comes DOA, most places charge ME to ship it back. No thanks.

I checked Sears, Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot, OSH, etc. Most of the PWs look very similiar, just rebranded. So it came down to price. Anyways, cut to the chase, after checking the stores it seems that Lowes had some good deals. They had 2 options, a 2000psi/1.6gpm washer for $170 and a 1600psi/1.5gpm for $100. Im the type of person that thinks bigger is better so it was hard not to choose the 2000psi one. But in the end, the 2000psi one seemed cheaply built. It felt a bit flimsy, expecially the plastic input/output.

So I crossed my fingers and bought the 1600psi one. I spent about an hour in the backyard cleaning anything I could find. It worked awesome. I dont feel its underpowered for what I plan on doing. Im not going to be cleaning people sidewalks or walls with it. It seems that for a lot of people the PW will work fine out the box, than theyll put it away for some time and pull it out again, only to find that it leaks. I figure if I could get a few months worth before it dies on me, I will have gotten my moneys worth. By than I will probably be able to decide whether I want to go further with this and purchase a gas powered unit.

As of right now the unit feels pretty sturdy. Ill keep this thread updated on the condition of it as time passes. BTW THIS is the unit I bought. If anyone has experience with it feel free to chime in.

**Dan** · 08-18-2009, 02:42 PM

I think lots of people let water freeze in them over the winter. There really isn`t that much to break in there other than the seals. I had a CH unit from costco that died, thankfully costco has an awesome return policy. I bought the Snap-On unit from there as a replacement but ended up bringing it back since the detergent tank didn`t have a flow control valve. I ended up with the Husky unit since is has dual tanks (one for APC, one for soap) and variable detergent flow. It also has a 30 foot hose where most of the others are 25, and that extra 5 feet really does help when washing a car.

I find that using the pressure washer is faster than ONR too, unless the car is really clean.

**GlossyTundra** · 08-18-2009, 02:43 PM

I detail full time, and very rarely use a PW, just takes to long. I dont use ONR either (unless I have to). The plain old hose/bucket method works very well for me.

**Dsoto87** · 08-18-2009, 02:48 PM

I think lots of people let water freeze in them over the winter.

Yea thats what it seemed like, thank god Im in san francisco, so freezing is highly unlikely.

I had a CH unit from costco that died, thankfully costco has an awesome return policy

I wanted to get one from costco exactly for that reason, its return policy. I just couldnt get a hold of someone with a card and Im pretty impatient when it comes to making a purchase.

I detail full time, and very rarely use a PW, just takes to long. I dont use ONR either (unless I have to). The plain old hose/bucket method works very well for me.

What about pressure washing takes too much time?

**Dan** · 08-18-2009, 03:10 PM

Originally Posted by Dsoto87

What about pressure washing takes too much time?

Setup time I guess.

**GlossyTundra** · 08-18-2009, 03:26 PM

Setup time, takes longer to put suds in bucket, if you are using one with below 2.0gpm it takes longer to rinse the suds from the car, you have to unhook the hose to dry with the "flood" method.

I mean, I do use it, but I could def be mobile without it. And it`s a 5.5hp honda 3.0gpm industrial unit, still dont need anything but a hose to be able to do it quickly.

**Dsoto87** · 08-18-2009, 03:29 PM

I see, to be honest I mainly wanted it to do rims, wheels, wheel wells, and the underbody more efficiently.

I had still planned on using ONR on the body panels since I can ONR a car quicker than I can wash it the traditional way. Not to mention I may not always be in the shade so the panel by panel style of ONR is a plus.

**ten39** · 08-18-2009, 03:35 PM

The only thing I use my PW for is heavy cleaning - with an emphasis on undercarriage and wheel wells - immediately preceding a traditional wash. Such as after a winter road trip with the car, or some sort of dirt/mud road use with the truck.

I don`t really see a use for a PW that`s a net time saver, otherwise.

It is something that`s very useful to own overall, however.

YMMV

**snowskate** · 08-18-2009, 03:47 PM

Sorry to hear you lost your job. But enjoy this exciting new venture!

**LeadingEdgeDetail** · 08-18-2009, 05:09 PM

MOST IMPORTANT ADVICE AVAILABLE:

Get the best warranty.

Don`t get the cheapest. Unless that happens to also have the best warranty.

It will break. Hopefully within a year, which means they will replace it no question.

I bought mine from Costco, used it for 11 months, then it started buggering up off and on, so I brought it back with receipt and got a brand new one for free

Then that one died, brought it back, got cash refund, went and bought a REAL one for $600. Never looked back

Thankfully I bought the original one from somewhere with a good return policy!

**Dsoto87** · 08-18-2009, 05:19 PM

Sorry to hear you lost your job. But enjoy this exciting new venture!

Yea thanks man, I see it as a blessing in disguise actually.

Get the best warranty.

Don`t get the cheapest. Unless that happens to also have the best warranty.

Yea I know what you mean. Thats why I wanted to purchase one from costco.

Sears, Lowes, and HDs PW all have a tag on them that say "Do Not Return To Store". Youll have to deal with the manufacturer and from what I hear the customer service is horrid with them. If anything goes wrong within the first 30 days im going back to Lowes and raising hell though. After that I guess im on my own.

I would love to get a camspray or some commercial gas powered one but its just not in the budget RIGHT NOW. Like I said, hopefully all goes well and I can step it up to one of those in the future.

**OCKlasse** · 08-18-2009, 05:38 PM

I`ve had my Lowe`s Karcher electric for over a year with a lot of abuse and it`s still running strong!

**black03mach** · 08-19-2009, 09:06 AM

now you can snow foam the car!

Best of luck on your venture...if you are truly doing wash and wax don`t get too carried away if the results dont blow you away like a full on polish detail does